It is known in the art to provide ground engaging or earth penetrating tools with inserts of materials which have a higher degree of wear-resistance than the tool material, which is usually of steel. Such inserts are employed to prolong the life of these tools, and much ingenuity has been exercised in the placement of these inserts within the tool to obtain the greatest wear life possible. Furthermore, while some of these inserts have been meltably deposited in a groove of the tool as by welding or the like, other inserts have been separately formed and then secured within a cavity of the tool as by brazing them in place.
In addition to the problem of properly positioning the wear-resistant inserts in a protected location on the tool relative to its normal travel direction, the tool has often had an insufficient service life because the inserts secured to the tool have been of insufficient size. For example, in the case of a cutting edge for a motor grader, such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,529,677 and issued Sept. 22, 1970 to E. W. Stephenson, the inserts have been limited in size due to the relatively shallow depth of the groove which receives them. Particularly, the groove has been heretofore unduely shallow because it has not been economically feasible to machine a groove depth greater than approximately 1 inch in the center of the leading edge of the blade.